UNC suffered its second loss of the season last Saturday against SMU. If UNC wants to beat Wake Forest, it needs to solve these three things.
The North Carolina Tar Heels suffered just their second setback on the basketball court last Saturday, losing 97-83 in a road test against the SMU Mustangs.
UNC (13-2, 1-1 ACC) is a solid defensive team, but allowed a season-high 97 points against SMU (12-2, 1-0 ACC). The Mustangs shot 60 percent overall from the field, including a torrid 52% mark from deep, while former Wake Forest standout Boopie Miller recorded a 27-point, 12-assist double-double.
North Carolina has a quick turnaround, hosting Wake Forest (10-5, 1-1 ACC) on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET. The Demon Deacons are better than their record shows, losing to ranked Michigan and Texas Tech squads by one point, but they also have blowout losses to NC State and Vanderbilt.
As the Tar Heels continue practicing throughout the week, we take a deeper dive into three areas they need to focus on in practice. If UNC does these, they'll leave home court with a big win on Saturday.
Perimeter defense
You can't expect to win many games when the opposition shoots 52% from deep. SMU did this on Saturday against North Carolina, with Corey Washington (5-of-7), Boopie Miller (3-of-5) and Jaden Toombs (2-of-3) all making multiple threes.
The Tar Heels will face a Deacs squad that shoots just 32.7% from deep, which ranks 240th out of 365 teams. Four Wake regulars, including Cooper Schwieger (57.1%), are a minimum 35% on 3-pointers.
Free throws
As good as UNC is this season, free throws are a glaring weakness. That'll happen when you lose RJ Davis in the offseason, but free throws should be almost automatic for any team.
The Tar Heels shot just 68% from the line in Saturday's loss at SMU. On December 30 against Florida State, North Carolina shot 70% on free throws.
UNC is an aggressive team, but if it starts making free throws at a higher clip, it'll win this coming Saturday.
Find another go-to guy
The Tar Heels' offense runs through their electric post duo of Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar. Seth Trimble leads the backcourt – and shined with a 22-point outing against SMU.
This trio is difficult to stop altogether, but they'll get tired playing heavy minutes (30+ for each player in Dallas). Jarin Stevenson was a bright spot off the bench, scoring a season-high 16 points in 21 minutes.
Whether it's Stevenson, Dixon or someone else, North Carolina needs another go-to bucket on Saturday against Wake Forest.
This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC basketball: Three areas of focus entering Wake Forest matchup
Category: General Sports
